| Books Available at the Church Office |
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These books can be borrowed from the church office located at 160 N Craig St in Oakland. Brief reviews of books in the church office (Books on the book table are also available in the church office) Culture and Society C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. This is Lewis' most polemic book (the first part is called "Men without Chests") in which he critiques the modern educational system and modern culture in general. Dorothy Sayers, Letters to a Diminished Church. Sayers was a contemporary and friend of C.S. Lewis, most known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels. Her nonfiction work is receiving increasing attention in recent decades. This is a delightfully written book surveying all kinds of issues of society. Her discussions of the Christian view of work, art, and esthetics are especially interesting. She sounds in many ways like her contemporary Ayn Rand in talking of the value of work in and of itself, and not for the crowd, but she sounds like she would be a lot more fun to have around than Rand.
Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto. Another classic by Schaeffer, his overall view of church and politics. Schaeffer argues that the church should not aim to conquer the world politically, but on occasion in history the church has been justified in taking up arms to defend its people. In large part a commentary on the classic book Lex Rex by Samuel Rutherford, which influenced the American Revolution.
C.G. Hunter, Darwin’s God. A fascinating look at the theology which dominated Victorian England at the time of Darwin, and which influenced all later generations who argued for or against Darwinism. Hunter argues that not only creationists, but evolutionists, have been profoundly influenced by theological assumptions about what God is like, and what he ought to do.
Biographies Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty. Elizabeth Elliot presents passages from the diaries of her husband Jim Elliot, who was a missionary killed by South American Indians shortly after World War I. Jim Elliot comes across at first as a bit legalistic, but warms to being filled with love for the people he is working with, and throughout he is filled with a passion to see people come to know Christ. In many ways a modern David Brainerd. His death led many others to go into missions.
John Sargent, Life and Letters of Henry Martyn. Henry Martyn was the top graduating student of his year at Cambridge University at age 19, and many thought he would be the next Isaac Newton. Instead, he decided to go to the Middle East and India to translate the Bible into Arabic and Hindu. In poor health even before he went, he died within a few years, but after completing both tasks of translation, which were considered the standards for many years. His letters are filled with passion and love for Christ. The book also has many fascinating vignettes about life in the early 1800’s, including the nominalism which Wilberforce addresses in his book Real Christianity (see Book Table reviews). Especially interesting are passages on the famous preacher Simeon. Students were so roused by his sermons they threw tomatoes at him during worship services!
Life and Diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards. This book is worth sticking with to the end. Brainerd is dying of tuberculoisis and also suffers from what we would now call clinical depression. Despite this, he is one of the first Western frontier missionaries after the Reformation, in the early 1700’s. He saw amazing waves of conversion among the American Indians. In the first part of the book he seems to simply get depressed a lot and to be a bit brittle, but by the end of the book he is expressing clearly a passionate love for people and for God. This book influenced thousands of people in later generations to become missionaries, in the great missionary movement of the 1800's. L.A. Lillback and J. Newcombe, George Washington’s Sacred Fire. Many historians in the past 50 years have claimed that Washington was a deist or at best a nominal Christian. Lillback and Newcombe, in this massive tome, present a lengthy examination of Washington’s personal letters and speeches and conclude that he was a devout Christian. Theological Foundations
R.C. Sproul, If There's A God, Why Are There Atheists? or, The Psychology of Atheism. Unfortunately out of print, this is a classic by Sproul. Atheists such as Dawkins argue that religion is just wish fufilment. Is atheism another type of wish fulfilment? Jonathan Edwards, Freedom of the Will. This book is considered by many theologians to be the most original book to come from North American Christianity. Edwards looks carefully at the issues of balancing free will and God's control over the universe. A deep book, with many surprises for those who think they know what Calvinism says. Theological Debates Elizabeth Elliot, Let me be a Woman. Elliot writes eloquently of her view of the difference between the sexes and why she does not support a view of men and women as interchangeable. Dan Doriani, Women and Ministry. Doriani gives a comprehensive presentation of the “complementarian” view, that men and women are equal in value in the eyes of God but have different roles. You may not agree with everything he says, but he gives a good overall view of the Bible texts relating to the differing roles of men and women. John MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel, and The Gospel According to Jesus. MacArthur writes polemic books critiquing the writings and practices of other modern Christian leaders by name. Some may not like this, but MacArthur is always fair, and he picks issues which are crucial in the modern church. In Ashamed of the Gospel, he discusses errors embraced by many in the modern church planting movement (how much should we aim to please people in trying to be popular?) while in The Gospel According to Jesus he discusses an essential issue, namely, is repentence required for a person to be right with God? Surprisingly, many modern theologians argue that it is not necessary, despite what seem to be clear declarations by Jesus and others in the Bible, “Repent or you will perish!” C.I. Crenshaw and G.E. Gunn, Dispensationalism Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow. Crenshaw and Gunn are graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary who studied under Ryrie, one of the world's foremost proponents of the theological system known as "dispensationalism." They write passionately about why the eventually rejected that system and turned to Reformed theology. You may not have heard the word "dispensationalism," but it is a dominant view in many American churches, presented in books and movies like Left Behind.
P.M. Elliot, Christianity and Neo-Liberalism. This book argues vociferously that Reformed churches, in particular the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, have had their defenses up against heresies from the “left,” but have neglected the danger of equally damaging heresies cropping up on the “right,” such as the Federal Vision (see below).
G.P. Waters, The Federal Vision and Covenant Theology. This book argues carefully against the new Federal Vision theology promoted in some ultra-conservative circles in the Reformed churches. For a further critique see the article Can I Know I Have Eternal Life? by David Snoke, on this website.
The Federal Vision, edited by S. Wilkins and D. Garner. To get the teaching from the horse’s mouth. Our church rejects the teaching of the Federal Vision school, which is also associated with the New Perspectives on Paul school. See the article Can I Know I Have Eternal Life? by David Snoke, on this website. Wilkins is also associated with the “slavery was not so bad” camp—see the article The Southern Presbyterian Church and Racism by David Snoke.
H.M. Carson, The Faith of the Vatican. The Reformed churches grew out of the Reformation, in which numerous scholars leveled vociferous arguments that the Roman Catholic church had made serious, even fatal errors in theology and practice. The Catholic church today is not the same church as it was then. What has changed and what has not?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church. This massive book gives the official teaching of the Catholic church on many subjects, which makes it much easier to discuss areas where we disagreee.
Philosophy of the Church
Mike Bechtle, Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style. This short book presents a fairly simple premise, but one with lots of consequences: many people are introverts by nature, and that is not a sin. Bechtle discusses how introverts have their own style and gifts, and how to recognize if you are one. Larry Crabb, The Pressure’s Off. Crabb develops the theme that we often fall into thinking of everything in terms of rules, such as “rules for happy living,” or “God will reward me if I follow these laws” instead of living the new life of the Gospel. Unfortunately, he presents the “old way” of legalism as characteristic of the Old Testament, which is a typical misunderstanding of many Christians. Believers in the Old Testament were saved by grace through faith just as we are, and we in the New Testament age should love obeying God’s laws just as the writer of Psalm 119 did, out of a sense of joy, not mere duty.
Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change. The subtitle says it all: how can I help others when I am messed up myself? This book is very similar to Larry Crabb’s Encouragement in its approach, but more comprehensive and more theological in laying the basis of how and why “ordinary” people can counsel. Read both this and Crabb’s Encouragement (see Book Table page for review) or a good foundation in counseling. Both argue that counseling is not just for the “experts” but should be something all Christians do.
Unprotected (Anonymous). The subtitle says it all: A campus psychologist reveals how political correctness in her profession endangers every student.
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